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In this lesson, you will learn about three francophone countries. You will also learn how to use the verbs savoir and connaître to discuss place and people in each country. Knowing the difference between savoir and connaître is very important, as they don’t mean the exact same thing.
Watch this video and listen carefully! It will introduce you to our two new verbs and demonstrate how they are used to talk about facts and people.
Bonjour! In this lesson, you will learn two verbs that seem the same but are actually quite different: savoir and connaître. You will also learn about some different francophone countries.
Let’s study!
In English, we use the verb to know to talk about things, facts, and people we know. French, uses two different verbs: savoir and connaître.
Savoir is used to talk about the things or facts we know, or to say we know how to do something. Let’s look at some examples.
Je sais que Paris est la capitale de la France. I know that Paris is France’s capital city.
Il sait que la France avait des rois avant. He knows that France used to have kings.
Nous savons cuisiner. Do you know what this sentence means?
That’s right! It means “We know how to cook.”
Connaître is used when we want to talk about a person, place, or body of work we know or are familiar with.
Je connais Emmanuel Macron. C’est le président de la France. I am familiar with Emmanuel Macron. He is the president of France.
Nous connaissons Victor Hugo. C’est un écrivain français célèbre. We are familiar with Victor Hugo. He is a famous french writer.
In this lesson, you will also learn about countries other than France where people speak French.
Connais-tu Céline Dion? C’est une chanteuse canadienne. Where does she come from?
Yes, it’s Canada!
The next country you will learn about is Switzerland.
La Suisse a quatre langues officielles. L’une d’elle est le français. How many official languages does Switzerland have?
It has four, and one of them is French.
Connaissez-vous Roger Federer? C’est un joueur de tennis suisse. Do you know Roger Federer? He is a Swiss tennis player.
The last country you will learn about is Senegal.
Savez-vous que la capitale du Sénégal est Dakar? Do you know that the capital city of Senegal is Dakar?
Connaissez-vous Patrice Evra? C’était un joueur de football professionnel. What did Patrice Evra do?
He was a professional soccer player.
Get ready to practice using savoir and connaître as you learn more about some French-speaking countries. Let’s get to work!
Au travail!
Question
How do you translate savoir and connaître in English?
to know
